''King Star King'' is an American

adult animated An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a "minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of majori ...

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single i ...

created by J.J. Villard for

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...

and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...

;

Eric Kaplan Eric Kaplan is an American television writer and producer. His work has included shows such as ''Late Show with David Letterman'', ''Andy Richter Controls the Universe'', ''Malcolm in the Middle'', ''Futurama'', ''The Simpsons'' and ''Rick and M ...

also worked on the series' pilot episode. The series aired on the network's online video streaming service

Adult Swim Video Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...

on June 15, 2014 before it was aired on TV. A TV special ''King Star King!/!/!/'' will air on February 13, 2023.

Synopsis

The series revolves around the titular character, King Star King (

Tommy Blacha Thomas Blacha (born August 25, 1962) is an American voice actor, writer, and producer. He is known working for shows such as ''Metalocalypse'', ''Da Ali G Show'' and ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien''. Career Blacha started as a local Chicago Co ...

): a tall, blond muscular man. After seducing his love, Princess Snow White, he falls from his higher plane of existence to serve as a fry cook in a run-down waffle house. In order to reclaim his place in the heavens, he must battle his

amnesia Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or disease,Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R., & Mangun, G. (2009) Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. but it can also be caused temporarily by the use ...

to defeat the evil Spring Bunny (

) and rescue Snow White.

Production

The

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

was announced preceding the network's 2012

upfront ''UpFront'' is a current affairs discussion, debate and analysis programme on Al Jazeera English. The show premiered on 4 September 2015 shortly after Al Jazeera moved into their new Washington D.C. hub. The show has a politics focus although othe ...

as part of their development slate. It was also disclosed during the upfront, and was reported again before the network's upfront the following year. It was announced as a

for

to premiere June 15, 2014; the series was advertised as "too shexxxy " for television. The network conducted an online poll whether episodes should be released daily or all at once; on June 11, the network announced it would release all six episodes of the first season simultaneously. A

sweepstake A sweepstake is a type of contest where a prize or prizes may be awarded to a winner or winners. Sweepstakes began as a form of lottery that were tied to products sold. In response, the FCC and FTC refined U.S. broadcasting laws (creating the ...

for the series was announced on June 9, promoting six chances to win original artwork by Villard. The series is animated using

Adobe Flash Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a multimedia Computing platform, software platform used for production of Flash animation, animations, rich web applications, application software, desktop applications, mobile apps, mo ...

by Titmouse, Inc. with ink and paint services made by Cyber Chicken Studios in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

and produced by J.J. Villard's vanity card, Kurtis; Mirari Films's

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n facilities provided animation for the pilot episode. In an interview at the 2013 Comic-Con, Villard dubbed the titular character as "

He-Man He-Man is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the sword and planet ''Masters of the Universe'' franchise, which includes a toy line, several animated television series, comic books and a feature film. He-Man is characterized by h ...

on drugs". Series developer

went on to describe comments with the network's

Standards and Practices In the United States, Standards and Practices (also referred to as Broadcast Standards and Practices or BS&P for short) is the name traditionally given to the department at a television network which is responsible for the moral, ethical, and leg ...

to "better tell

he show He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

" When asked about the inspiration for the series, Blacha joked that Villard pitched the series to network executive

Mike Lazzo Michael Lazzo (born April 10, 1958) is a retired American television producer and the former executive (management), executive vice president in charge of the Adult Swim programming block of Cartoon Network, and its production arm, Williams Street ...

with a drawing of the protagonist, to which he approved production of the pilot. The two explained that as Villard started working on it with another producer and driving Lazzo "crazy," he abandoned the pilot; this led to Blacha joining as producer and toning it down by "two percent."

Voices

- King Star King, Hank Waffles, Gurbles, Fat Frank, Mike Balls, KWA KWA *

Robin Atkin Downes Robin Atkin Downes is an English actor known for his work in animation and video games. Early life Downes was born in London. He earned an MFA from Temple University in Philadelphia. Career Downes has voiced characters in animated films s ...

- Narrator, Alfonso Molestro, Doctor, Chunkles, Hank's Mother, Tim Tumor, Carmine Excrementi, Pinchy Laroux, God Star God * J.J. Villard - Pooza, Customer, Surfer * Rachel Butera - Princess Snow White (2014), Slutty Waitress, Baroness Sludgeclot, Smear, Mrs. Balls, Burger Bitch * Mallory McGill - Princess Snow White (2013) *

- Spring Bunny, Scrod *

Will Sasso Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

- Eddie 5 Antlers

Episodes

Pilot (2013)

Series (2014)

Release and reception

The

was screened at the 2013

San Diego Comic-Con International San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is co ...

, along with a panel hosted by Villard and Blacha. In July 2013, it was released online as part of a presentation of in-development shows for the network, partnered with

KFC KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with 2 ...

; viewers could vote for their favorite pilot, with the winner being broadcast on August 26, 2013. The series lost to ''Übermansion'', a

Stoopid Buddy Stoodios Stoopid Buddy Stoodios (formerly known as Stoopid Monkey and stylized as Stoop!d Monkey) is an American production company and animation studio, formed by Seth Green, Matthew Senreich, John Harvatine IV, and Eric Towner. It was established in 2011 ...

production, although the presentation won an Internet Advertising Campaign Award in 2014 for "Best TV Integrated Ad Campaign". Nevertheless, the pilot aired on the network's

Toonami Toonami ( ) is an American late night television programming block that primarily broadcasts Japanese animation and occasionally American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and produced by Williams Street, a divis ...

block on November 3, 2013 during the

daylight saving time Daylight saving time (DST), also referred to as daylight savings time or simply daylight time (United States, Canada, and Australia), and summer time (United Kingdom, European Union, and others), is the practice of advancing clocks (typicall ...

transition;

Nielsen ratings Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

were not captured during this period. Meredith Woerner of

io9 ''io9'' is part of Gizmodo media since 2015, and it began as blog launched in 2008 by Gawker Media. The site initially focused on the subjects of science fiction, fantasy, futurism, science, technology and related areas but over the years has ...

said that the series gained their approval at its description of a " punk rock

". Conversely, upon surveying the show's description, Patrick Kevin Day of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' official blog dubbed the network a "home for stupid characters".

References

External links

* *
''King Star King'' pilot
on

{{Williams Street 2014 web series debuts 2014 web series endings 2010s American adult animated television series 2010s American comic science fiction television series American adult animated adventure television series American adult animated comedy television series American adult animated science fiction television series American adult animated fantasy television series American animated science fantasy television series American adult animated web series American comedy web series Fantasy web series American science fiction web series English-language television shows Adult Swim original programming Television shows about drugs Television series by Williams Street